Dumb Dems

The State Sen. John Whitmire for Mayor Campaign started running runoff TV ads today.

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The featured photo is a preview of an upcoming Channel 2 news story on the City of H-Town water division.  Investigative/consumer reporter Amy Davis continues her stellar work uncovering major problems with water billings and stuff.

Last night, Channel 2 news aired a story on convicted former mayoral aide William Paul Thomas and a Porsche he drives. Shady dealings for sure. Oh, well.

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This is dumb and plain old stupid – a story in the Chron on Dems moving to censure the Harris County DA. Democratic Party dumbsh_ts if you ask Commentary.  Local Dems want to go after the Democratic Harris County District Attorney through a censure resolution. Dumbsh_ts. You have three and a half months to oust her in the Democratic Primary. Sad.

Here is a headline from the Chron:

Harris County Democrats to take up proposed resolution admonishing DA Kim Ogg

Here is the entire Chron read:

An eventful meeting is expected on Wednesday when a Harris County Democratic Party committee takes up debate on a contentious resolution admonishing District Attorney Kim Ogg. 

Supporters of the resolution say the measure has been signed by over 80 out of 549 precinct chairs since it was introduced in mid-October. If it passes Wednesday’s vote, it could be voted on at the party’s county executive committee meeting in December. 

In the resolution, the group of precinct chairs takes issue with some of Ogg’s actions related to bail reform, election-related investigations and abortion, concluding that her decisions “run counter to the interests, values, and agenda of the Democratic Party and the people of Harris County.”

Ogg’s campaign responded to the proposed resolution with a lengthy email blast to supporters, offering rebuttals to her critics’ claims. 

But many of her critics are not buying her rebuttals.

“We’re proud to be a big tent party … but Ogg’s words and actions cross a line,” said Rebecca Shukla, one of the precinct chairs who signed the resolution.

Ogg is up for re-election in 2024, facing a potentially tough primary challenge from former prosecutor Sean Teare, who was recently endorsed by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

The party’s resolutions committee will consider the measure at a meeting Wednesday evening. If the measure moves forward, it would need approval at a Nov. 30 steering committee as well, before it could go to a vote at the Dec. 10 CEC meeting. If the resolution does receive a floor vote in December, it would need a simple majority of precinct chairs in attendance at the meeting in order to pass.

There is some precedent for the local party taking this kind of action. In 2021, the group approved a measure supporting the censure of state Rep. Harold Dutton, who supported a bill in the Texas Legislature banning transgender students from joining sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

Several of Ogg’s supporters within the party are coming to her defense and speaking out against the resolution, pointing to disunity within the national Republican Party as a warning to Democrats.

“I don’t think the Democrats should follow suit,” said William Pesota, the chair of precinct 578. “I think this is damaging and destructive to not only Kim but to our party.”

It’s also not the party’s job to admonish candidates, said Lane Lewis, a former chair of the Harris County Democratic Party from 2011 to 2017.

“So when the party gets into the role of policing the candidates chosen by the voters, then you run the risk of alienating those within the party that supported those individuals,” Lewis said. “You end up splintering the party.”

Supporters have also argued Democratic precinct chairs don’t need to pass a resolution when they already have a means to express their views: at the ballot box.

“I get that not every Democrat may like Kim Ogg, but we have a primary process,” said James Cargas, chair of precinct 222, who noted that Ogg already had a primary challenger. 

Mike Doyle, the current party chair, said he doesn’t have a position on whether the county executive committee should vote on the measure.

“Our primary goal is to support Democrats and Democratic candidates,” Doyle said. “But if the CEC believes there’s an issue the party should speak out on, I wouldn’t say that’s inappropriate.”

Resolutions committee chair Chuck Crews said he welcomes the debate at Wednesday’s meeting. 

“I am so encouraged because this is the way it’s supposed to work,” Crews said. “It’s not supposed to be all of us sitting around in a circle singing kumbaya. We are supposed to talk about what we don’t like and why we don’t like it and how we’re going to make it better.”

Sad. Sad. Sad.

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Joe Espada was introduced as the new manager yesterday. We learned that his wife Pamela used to be a pharmacist and he has two adorable daughters, Eliana 12, and Viviana 8.

Congrats to Joe and Pamela Espada.